New York State Museum (NYS)

The vouchers for John Torrey's Flora of the State of New York (1843) formed the nucleus of the Herbarium. Because of the cultural and economic importance of the Albany-Troy area in the 19th century, the herbarium attracted collections of other early botanists, including material from Lewis Caleb Beck, Chester Dewey, H. P. Sartwell, Edward Tuckerman, Asa Gray, P. D. Kneiskern, among others. The herbarium also received important type specimens from M. A. Curtis, L. S. Rose, I. W. Clokey, C. F. Austin, B. D. Gilbert, C. S. Sheldon, E. Brainerd, C. S. Sargent, E. P. Bicknell, and H. M. Denslow. Throughout its history, the herbarium grew considerably from collections made by state botanists, Charles H. Peck, Homer D. House, Eugene C. Ogden, and Richard M. Mitchell and curators, Stanley J. Smith and Charles J. Sheviak.
Contact: Diana Murphy, Collection Manager, Vascular Plants (Diana.Murphy@nysed.gov)
Collection Type: Preserved Specimens
Management: Data snapshot of local collection database
Last Update: 9 April 2021
IPT / DwC-A Source:
Digital Metadata: EML File
Collection Statistics
  • 9,461 occurrence
  • 283 (3%) georeferenced
  • 8,512 (90%) identified to species
  • 32 families
  • 45 genera
  • 590 species
  • 751 total taxa (including subsp. and var.)
Extra Statistics
Family Distribution
Click on the occurrence record counts within the parenthesis to return the records for that family
  • Amaranthaceae (9)
  • Apiaceae (1)
  • Asteraceae (813)
  • Balsaminaceae (33)
  • Betulaceae (223)
  • Boraginaceae (281)
  • Brassicaceae (64)
  • Butomaceae (22)
  • Cabombaceae (22)
  • Caryophyllaceae (52)
  • Chenopodiaceae (491)
  • Cyperaceae (3394)
  • Fabaceae (84)
  • Haloragaceae (87)
  • Hydrocharitaceae (40)
  • Iridaceae (28)
  • Juncaceae (577)
  • Lamiaceae (93)
  • Lythraceae (26)
  • Marsileaceae (2)
  • Menyanthaceae (6)
  • Onagraceae (68)
  • Plantaginaceae (110)
  • Poaceae (478)
  • Polygonaceae (200)
  • Potamogetonaceae (1107)
  • Primulaceae (90)
  • Rhamnaceae (16)
  • Salicaceae (233)
  • Solanaceae (44)
  • Trapaceae (3)
  • Typhaceae (186)